Granite State of mind

One of my college roommates always used to say that he never wanted to live anywhere north of Massachusetts. Northern New England, he maintained, was simply too rural and too boring.

While I certainly disputed this notion, citing childhood memories of family trips to Steele Hill Resort that introduced me to all the Lakes Region had to offer, I can't sit here now and say that I ever saw myself living in Central New Hampshire.

It was nearly two and a half years ago to the day that the idea of living among the lakes and the moose and the summer traffic flooded with flatlanders like myself first became a reality for me, but it wasn't the Lakes Region that was luring me away from my home away from home in Arkansas — it was the idea of returning to my real home, to New England.

In making the decision to come here, I viewed Laconia as a compromise. It was close enough to Boston and my friends, my parents in Massachusetts and my in-laws in Litchfield that however bored I might get up here would be worth enduring simply for the convenience factor and the comfort of coming home again. It was a means to an end.

In the coming months and years, however, a funny thing began to happen. Between the skiing in the winter and the summers on the lakes and the majestic falls spent cruising the Kancamagus Highway, this place I always equated with a vacation spot all of a sudden became a pretty perfect place to live. You might say I got caught up in a Granite State of Mind.

My time here began with a bang, or really with whatever sound falling snow makes. Twelve inches of the heavy stuff on the morning of my first day of work made me an hour late when my car got stuck. Ten more inches three weeks later forced me to walk seven miles to work. Eighteen more a month after that had me flat on my back in my snowy driveway at 3 a.m. I like to think the fact that I made it through that legendary winter of 2008 and am still here singing the praises of this place speaks for itself.

The Lakes Region isn't without fault, as I will never forget either of my first two winters here nor will I miss having to drive to Concord to find any store of consequence, but above all else I've found this area to be a welcome place to live that is full of honest, hard-working and caring people — the type of place where you can count on neighbors and strangers alike.

New Hampshirites are their own breed and the personality of this state is defined by their unique traits, which I have really come to appreciate. 'Live Free or Die' is a way of life here, as locals circle the wagons with the best of 'em to defend their own. They will dig in their heels and stand up to anyone and anything to keep the state rock-solid and steady, but at the same time are accepting, tolerant and content to allow the state motto to apply to everyone.

I've fallen in line with the whole 'Live Free' piece and the Lakes Region has rewarded me with some of the most important and memorable moments and experiences of my life.

This will always be where I proposed to my wife, where we began our life together and where we raised our dogs to form our first little family.

It's also where I got my first chance to experience Bike Week with my dad, where I got to cover my first NASCAR races and take a lap around the Magic Mile in the pace car and where I got to take my mom with me to meet Doug Clifford of CCR.

I learned how to ice fish here and, more importantly, learned how to love it. I took 546 runs down Gunstock in one season. I jumped into Winnisquam fully clothed when the Celtics won the NBA title. I accomplished a lifelong goal of skiing the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine and I'm still pretty proud of that.

More than anything though, I learned to appreciate a slower pace of life and the much-needed tranquility you can only find in a place like this. It's what many people would call "boring" but for me it was more like "relaxing." It came at a time in my life when I really needed to take a step back and slow things down and it has been the perfect medicine to prepare me for my next great adventure.

By the time this column appears in print, my time in Laconia will already have come to an end. It was — and still is — difficult to leave this area I've come to cherish, but the lure of a new challenge for my wife and I in our favorite city in the world was too exciting to pass up. We are on our way to New Orleans to Laissez les bons temps rouler!

What I will take with me southbound on I-93 is that Granite State of Mind — that unnamed, unabashed something that makes New Hampshire what it is and what it isn't. More or less, it's the whole living free or dying thing — do everything you want, pass on most of what you don't, tolerate what you must and make of your time what you want to make of it, because when it comes down to it there isn't a better way to live.

Mike Marzelli is a former news editor of The Citizen. He can be reached at mikemarzelli@gmail.com.

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